Reply #51: My Somalian friend Margaret says US poverty is worse [View All]

[mntleo2]

...this is a woman who endured endless war, the death of her entire family, refugee camps where she was continually raped and beaten, and then when she got to America and got her low paying crappy job, then endured living on the streets for 2 years. yet there is no prouder American ~ not because she is still poor and it was worse than she had, but because she "gets' to be who she is and wants to be as a woman and American.

She said that in Somalia, when there was no place to live, she went into the forest where there were indigenous people who'd lived there for literally eons and they taught her how to survive. Try doing that here and not only have we chased away the indigenous people, if we tried to live in the forest, we would be arrested for trespassing since it either belongs to the government or privately owned.

She said in Somalia if you wanted to cook a meal, you built a fire in a fire pit and cooked it communally where all the people sat and ate together and shared their food. Try doing that here and you will be arrested for arsonm being a terrorist for consorting with "questionable people or something like that

She said that it is almost required to have a car here to get around since our public transportation sucks to get to work, and there isn't any in rural areas at all, so you HAVE to have that expensive car since it is 50 miles to work if you have a job.

She said our living arrangements insist on having electricity and fuel of some sort in order to cook, stay warm, and do the family work needed, our homes are not designed to be able to work without light,fireplaces are not built to cook in and are a waste of energy.

Since her culture in Somalia is used to nomads and people who do not have a home, they are not considered "poor" just because they don't have a house to live in and there are acceptable ways to survive without them. Not so here.

Just a few reasons why poverty in America is harder than freaking Somalia for GAWD's sake.

Cat in Seattle <--- Margaret is my hero and in so many ways her wisdom is priceless and an addition to this country.